XLVI. As asked...

"So the leaves fell,
as you asked them to.

When you asked them.

Like leaden ashes from a cigarette
They fell away, and landed limp
And useless on the ground."
You told me in a text.


"They didn't fall right;
oooooThey didn't burn themselves up
oooooIn that glory and that stomal heartbreak
oooooThat belongs to Fall.
oooooooooo(Or should.)"


"The Fall is new—
oooooAnd here I'm curious—
What did you want from an
Autumn of evergreens
Whose needles prick the seasons
And starve them thin?"

"I told you what I wanted
ooooowith all the words I knew how
oooooto bend around each other."


"But you're leaving here.
And estive leaves won't set themselves alight—
oooooTo fall on you, and through you, and burn you
oooooSo completely, they leave a brand upon your heart—
For a winter you won't wade your long way through."

You told me in a text.